"We used to have white chocolate, but over the years it got less and less popular." -- Terry Marks

Situated at the edge of the Acura Stage at the New Orleans Jazz Fest, the Gallo/Marks food vendors have seen a lot of odd things, only some of which can be discussed in a family-friendly publication. When the crowds are thickest, some people have been known to put their blankets and chairs right in front of the booth, blocking business.

"We actually had people trying to unhook our hoses to drink water," said Terry Marks. "People were trying to climb on top of our trailer to get a better view of the stage. That crowd was totally different from the regular crowd."

Marks and his partner, Joe Gallo, have been food vendors at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Presented by Shell for 31 years, selling chocolate-dipped strawberries and strawberry smoothies.

The two met at Delgado Community College and started a sign business, then looked for other ways to make money, selling "snowballs and stuff like that" at festivals around town, Marks said.

"We heard that Jazz Fest was looking to add a dessert item, and my partner Joe Gallo's family is originally from Independence. They used to grow strawberries years ago."

Their proposal to sell chocolate-dipped strawberries was accepted, and they were asked to do a drink as well, so they came up with the smoothie.

The smoothies are made with frozen strawberries in syrup, blended with a banana, a squirt of honey, ice and triple-filtered water. They go through 12 to 15 cases of bananas each weekend.

A crew of about a dozen workers includes a team that dips the strawberries in chocolate. An extra tent next to their booth is set up for the dipping, with a triple compartment sink and fans to dry the berries.

The berries have to be picked up fresh, direct from the grower, each morning. Marks said they try to get Louisiana strawberries, but, by the second weekend of the festival, most of the crop already is picked, and they have to resort to berries from Florida or California.

The berries are dipped in melted milk and dark Guittard chocolate. The sales of dark chocolate have spiked in recent years, Marks said, because of all the news about antioxidants in darker chocolates, but milk chocolate still sells better.

"We used to have white chocolate, but over the years it got less and less popular, and it would give us trouble" by thickening. "The people who work for me kind of revolted and said we refuse to dip the white chocolate. I said OK."

The smoothies outsell the strawberries by a wide margin, however, especially on hot days when a frozen drink is appealing. (And when the chocolate wants to melt.)

"One of our regular customers is Paul Simon. He comes up every second or third year, whether he's playing or not," Marks said. "He comes up in a baseball cap and sunglasses and gets a smoothie."

Last year, Louisiana Cookin' published the recipe for one of my very favorite Jazz Fest dishes, the Crawfish, Spinach and Zucchini Bisque from Jamila's, the Tunisian cafe on Maple Street where everything is delicious. Special thanks to Barry for help with this recipe!

Jamila's Crawfish, Spinach and Zucchini Bisque

4 tablespoons butter

1 medium yellow onion, cut in large dice

1 medium zucchini, cut in large dice

3 cloves garlic

1-1/2 pounds fresh spinach

1 pound Louisiana crawfish tail meat

1/2 teaspoon Creole seasoning

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

Kosher or sea salt, to taste

1-1/2 cups seafood or chicken stock

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/2 quart heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

Heat the 4 tablespoons of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onions, zucchini and garlic until vegetables begin to soften. Add the spinach and half of the crawfish, the seasonings, and the stock.

Simmer until spinach is cooked through. Remove from heat.

While spinach mixture cools, make a white roux by combining the 3 tablespoons of butter and flour in a small nonreactive saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until it turns pale beige and the flour is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Set aside.

In a food processor, grind the spinach mixture until almost finely chopped. Do not overprocess; the texture should be a little rough. Return to stove over medium heat in a large, heavy saucepot.

Add cream, milk and the rest of the crawfish. As it reaches a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Whisk in the roux, taking care to incorporate it completely into the bisque. Lower heat and let simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Taste to adjust seasonings. Serve at once.

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Food editor Judy Walker seeks to find recipes for readers. Contact her at jwalker@nola.com or 504.826.3485.